The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE has recorded further gains in the ongoing air interdiction operations designed to wipe out remnants of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) within the fringes of Lake Chad. This occurred as the ATF yesterday, 20 August 2018, conducted air strikes on BHT camps at Zanari and Tunbun Rego in Borno State.

The air strikes at Zanari were planned and executed based on intelligence reports indicating that the BHTs had established a training camp in the village and were converging in an area prior to departing for an attack on own troops locations around the Lake Chad area. Accordingly, the ATF scrambled 2 NAF Alpha Jet aircraft for a pre-emptive strike on 2 specified locations within Zanari, where the BHTs were assembled. The fighter aircraft acquired and attacked both locations, neutralizing several BHTs, with only few survivors seen fleeing the area. These were later mopped up by follow-on rocket strikes. Similarly, another identified BHT rendezvous point and staging area on the outskirts of Tunbun Rego was also attacked and destroyed by the Alpha Jets. The NAF will continue to deploy its platforms to conduct intensive Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions in the entire Northeast aimed at discovering the possible locations of remnants of BHTs and neutralizing them.